The recognition that buildings are a major contributor to greenhouse emissions is now being recognized in the mainstream press. In a recent article in the New York Times, Justin Gillis argued that one of the biggest climate problems is “poorly constructed buildings.” He stated that the people constructing buildings “have an economic motive to skimp on insulation and windows” and a carbon tax won’t change this behavior because they “are not the people who wind up paying the energy bills.” He mentioned that stricter, rigorously enforced energy codes are the solutions. He also recognized the current issues of mediocre stringency and lax enforcement in many states, which we in the building industry often experience.
Between the heightening in the general awareness of building performance and the increasing recognition of the accelerating impact of climate change, the folks at the NBI are predicting 2019 to be “the year of the energy codes” and cite a number of drivers.
The adoption of stretch codes by states and cities, and their increased focus on net-zero energy and carbon, continues to grow, even with the backdrop of reduced pressure at the national level. This will mean that some local and state codes will surpass even the latest versions of the national model codes. California’s Title 24 2019 is the most noteworthy example. It will be the first state code to require solar panels and nearly net-zero levels of energy consumption in residential construction. The 2022 commercial building version is touted by the NBI to become one of the most advanced in the U.S. The success of the Title 24 implementation will likely drive similar code developments elsewhere in the U.S.
That said, the State of California is not ranked first in energy efficiency. According to the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard published by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Massachusetts takes first place ahead of California. The scorecard ranks states according to their overall energy efficiency, including a range of measures such as building energy codes and appliance standards.
For its 2018 scorecard, the ACEEE worked with the NBI to integrate a zero energy performance index (zEPI) score into the methodology to more clearly assess and compare how each state is doing relative to achieving a net-zero code. (See February’s blog for a primer on zEPI.) The updated methodology allows a much better comparison of building codes across states. Four states: Michigan (ranked 11), Florida (ranked 23), Wisconsin (ranked 29) and Idaho (ranked 26) are identified as having made significant advances in commercial building energy codes by adopting the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). So, we should expect to see some higher performance building envelopes being specified in those states!
In addition, 2019 marks the three-year update to the IECC, which will create the 2021 version. The NBI reports that it is developing and supporting proposals that would result in 10-15 percent efficiency improvements. One interesting proposal is to include a non-mandatory appendix for achieving a net-zero residential home. In this way, states and cities could more easily adopt above-code requirements and drive building energy use down faster if so desired.
Members of the glass and glazing industry are already actively working on proposals for this version of the code, and will be actively supporting changes to the code that make the fenestration requirements consistent with ASHRAE 90.1-2019. The NBI asserts that “in 2019 there will be a convergence of activities around energy codes that will make or break our ability to reduce the amount of carbon emitted by buildings in this next crucial decade.”
I encourage our industry to engage in the IECC process to create a robust, high-performance standard that promotes the investment in higher performance building envelopes, and support making 2019 “the year of energy codes.”
